Proverbs states there is a
way that “seems right” to man.
[1]
However, Jesus said what seems right to man
may not be right with Him.
[2]
For this reason, Christians must be led by
the Spirit of God and follow God’s Word.
[3]
However, as the Bible teaches, it is
possible to believe one is being led by God,
but instead be misled by Satan. [4]

Emerging Church
propaganda has created a major controversy
within a number of fellowships that were
once made up of Bible believing and teaching
pastors. Pastors sympathetic to the Emerging
Church say Christianity must change or be
reinvented if we are going to be relevant
and reach the postmodern generation. Change
is necessary, they say, because Christianity
is no longer relevant for the postmodern era
and the gospel can no longer reach young
people who are looking for experiences.

Recently, a
group of pastors debating the pros and cons
of the Emerging Church in a private pastors’
discussion group, put forward a number of
ideas with regard to the Emerging Church.
Some felt that older pastors (even the
founder of the movement) were out of touch
with today’s youth and therefore no longer
relevant. Apparently, teaching the
Scriptures verse by verse and pointing
people to the soon return of Jesus had its
day, but not anymore.

Of course being
relevant and reaching this generation for
Christ is of vital importance. However,
reaching people for Christ must be based on
the Scriptures which are always relevant, if
we are going to hold fast to the faith.
[5]
Not so, you see, with the Emerging Church.
Promoters say that being relevant means
augmenting the Scriptures by stimulating the
senses with sounds, smells and images.

According to
Emerging Church leaders, reaching people is
often equated with finding ways to encourage
people to come to church. This is in keeping
with the Peter Drucker church growth model
that has been incorporated by Bill Hybels,
Rick Warren and others. In order for the
sheep to be “driven” the pastor must
designate a purpose in order to help focus
their faith. While Jesus is mentioned, the
main focus of Christianity becomes social
action. As well, providing what the sheep
like by meeting their spiritual consumer
needs also plays a role.

Further, since
preaching the gospel of Christ requires
telling sinners they will end up in hell
unless they accept a Savior, Emerging Church
promoters often look for ways to make
Christianity more acceptable and appealing.
Of course not all Emerging Church leaders
have ignored the gospel that we find in the
Scriptures. If this were the case those who
still had some discernment would detect
where the Emerging Church movement is
headed. Instead, the deviations from the
true gospel are more subtle.

Rob Bell, who
many pastors now are emulating, suggests
that people who witness to people about sin
and the reality of hell are “bull horn”
Christians. “Bull horn” people are not
“cool” now that we are in the postmodern
era. Instead Bell suggests “for a
mind-blowing introduction to emergence
theory and divine creativity, set aside
three months and read Ken Wilber’s A
Brief History of Everything.” [6]

Ken Wilber is a New Age guru
who promotes an Eastern religious worldview
that everything is God and that mankind is
in the process of evolving to a higher level
of consciousness. [7]

Another Emerging Church view
is the idea that it is necessary to develop
a global community of faith.
[8]
This idea is based on the view that truth
can be found in other faiths, other than
faith that is based on the Bible. For
example, one emerging leader I know requires
that members of his church attend Buddhist
meetings to learn about Buddhist beliefs
that have the potential to enrich the
“Christian” experience. [9]

Speaking of
Buddhist experiences, monastic disciplines
borrowed from Buddhism are becoming very
popular as Emerging Church promoters like
Richard Foster,[10]
Tony Campollo
[11]
and Tony Jones
[12]
promote contemplative prayer, centering
prayer and the “Jesus prayer”. The idea that
spiritual seekers can get into a “silent
state” or a “thin state” in order to “hear
God’s voice” is now being promoted as
“getting closer to God”.

All of this
sounds very spiritual, of course. However,
it is important to understand where these
ideas come from. You will find that the
Scriptures are silent about using mantras,
focusing on objects on the wall, performing
breathing exercises, and using beads to
count repetitive prayers, in order to get
closer to Jesus and be more spiritual.

Richard Foster
openly acknowledges that Thomas Merton, a
Catholic Trappist monk was very helpful in
introducing contemplative practices to the
Christians of his day. As Foster stated in a
book he wrote:

Thomas
Merton has perhaps done more than any other
twentieth-century figure to make the life of
prayer widely known and understood… His
interest in contemplation led him to
investigate prayer forms in Eastern
religion. Zen masters from Asia regarded him
as the preeminent authority on their kind of
prayer in the United States. [13]

So what should
this tell a discerning person? It seems that
getting “closer to Jesus” through embracing
Emerging Church practices should be a good
thing. It seems right! What possibly could
be wrong with getting closer to Jesus? But
what if in one’s zeal to get “closer to
Jesus”, the person was actually deceived and
contacted a demon?

Stop and think
about this for a moment! Instead of “getting
closer” to Jesus, the sincere Jesus-seeking
person could contact “another Jesus”. Thus,
what was thought to be right would be wrong!

Understand The Times is an independent non-profit organization in
Canada and the United States.
Understand The
Times is not affiliated or dependent upon any other organization or
denomination.
Understand The Times is accountable to a board of directors in the
United States and Canada
and accountable,
first of all, to Jesus Christ and His
word.